Ground-plate.



No. 873,375. PATENT@ ma. 1o, waff.

B J JoNLs GROUND PLATE. APPLIOATION FILED AUG. E, 1907.

VUNIIED STATES PATENT BUDD J. JONES, l" GNCINNAJT, GEIQ.

GROUND-PLATE.

Specification of Letters Felt-ent.

Application filed August 5. 1907. Serial En BQYGS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, BUDD J. JONES, e eitil' zen ol: the United States, residing et Cincinnoti, in the county ol H einilton and State of pecielly for lightning erresters.

'tending diagonally thereof.

My invention consists in e shell inolosingen inner plete to which the conductor which is to be grounded is Connected, seidplete being covered by e suitable absorbent and oonductingr materiel, which is confined by seid shell` My invention also consists in the parts, and in the combination and arrangement ol parts as will hereinafter be more fully described and claimed.

In the drawing: 'Figure 1 is e perspective view of a Complete device constructed es I prefer to embody my invention. Fig. 2-is e view' illustrating how the `freund plate is installed in connection with pole line oonstruetion'. Fig. 3 is e sectional perspective view of the device, illustrating the inner oonstruetion, the inner plete being perforated. Fig. 4 is n plan view oll seine wi th the upper oep removed. Fig. 5 is n detail perspective view of en inner plete with the conductor attached thereto.

As illustrated, the inner plete 1 is provided with the lhinges 2 and 3, and hes the conductor 4 attached to one side :uid prolerztbly'ex* l rlhis eoudurtor 4 is attached to the inner plete l by' being provided with open loops 5 :it intervals ol' length :tud with the Closed loop o :it its end, within whieh .engage the rivets 7 passingr through the platte l. lu order to l'urlher seoure the conductor fl to the plate l ns well :is to insure porteet electrical eouuerilon, solder is sweztted between them along the length olE the eouduotor 4. '.l-he shell S is romposed ol' :L sheet preferably formed into n. cylinder, .fils shown, and having' its overlapping;r ends riveted to the llzmgo 2 oli the inner pluto l, the dinnietrieftlly opposite puri being likewise riveted to the other lhmge il ol seid inner plete l. 'lhel ends of the shell 8 nro elosed by Amight be exposed in the upper sind lower oeps end l) respeetively. The inner plete l thus torres e diziphragin dividing t e shell 8 into einheiten tielly Seniimylindrieel elieniloers, whieh ere iilled with e niediuni l1 adapted to form e good'electrieel-conductor bet veen the inner plete, end the earth which surrounds the device when installed, and to also readily ebsorb the moisture of the eerth,l end thereby increase in Conductivity toedd to the ellioieney of the grounrl connection. Cherooel and coke are suitable materiels for this purpose.

The oeps 9 and l0 are preferably shellow and of the proper size to Alit snugly onto the ends of the'eyhndrieel shell 2l, end he seoured thereto by soldering applied in n. suitable inenner. The ul'iperfeep il hes the opening l2 through which posses the eoiidnoter Lt, and

this is preferably large enough to admit the eonduit i3, which isprovided to surround the eonduetiiir t shove the inner plete l. The eondiiit 13 may be oi ber, end should be snllieiently suhstentiel end extend' to suoli :i height ehove the surface ol. the ground to protect the wire troni ordiiimry rough usage, intentional or otherwise, to whioli it the eonstruetiiin illusu trnted herewith. This arrangement is best illustreted in Fig. 2 ot thedrnwing. The eonduit end conductor should be substrintinlly fastened to the pole, ruoli :is by staples le. The sheet of which the shell 8 is formed, es well es the oeps 9 end l0, inny be very thin and of metal, sueh es copper, and pret-- erebly providedlwith. the pertoreti'ons l5, es illustrated, to admit the moisture 'from the earth to the eoni'lin-.tingn inediinn 1L Other nutteriel nifty he employed for this purpose, however, endV this 'may or inn-y not he pervious since the only purpose ot 9Vlie shell is to eonline the conducting medium :trenini the inner plete l in porteliile forni while filtering: ol' eleetrieel oonneetien between sind inner plete l the surrounding eerth, when the device is installed. The inner plete l iney be perforated to allow thorough distribution oi the moisture throughout the conducting medium ll or it muy be plain es illustrated in Fig. 5 oi the drawing'. .ln :my ense copper is the most suitable materiel for the inner plete 1 es woll es the Conductor 4l, both of which ere proteeted lroin uieeheniesil injnry aswell es lfrom. corrosion, to e greet extent, by the surrounding medium 1l.

A.t the same time, this medium 11, being absorbent, will hold a considerable amount of moisture for a long period of time, facilitating the uniformly ei'licient operation of the device. The prot-ective function of the medium 11 is especially desirable in localities when the earth surrounding the ground plate contains acids or salts. Where co per is used for the outside covering or shel S, it should, preferably, be tinned to Jfurther resist possible corrosive action.

One of the advantages of this ground plate is the ease and cheapness of installation, which in most cases maybe accomplished by the use of a post-hole auger, to torni an eX- cavation of a diameter slightly larger than that of the device, and of a depth suflicient to insure continual moisture-in the surrounding earth, into which it may then be inserted,

with its conductor 4 attached and the conduit 13 in place, and the earth iilled in upon it and tamped so as to come into intimate conta'ct with the shell S, The extent of such an excavation is illustrated in Fig. 2 by the dotted lines 16, the installation being here immediately adjacent the post. However, it will be understood that the device is equally well suited for use in interior or station work, or any other place where it is desired to make a thoroughly efhcient ground connection, either for -lightning arresters or other electrical apparatus. The shape of the deviceI may be varied with equal facility, should it be found necessary, in connection with different classes of service, although the cylindrical construction here illustrated and described will be found most convenient in a umajority of cases, the primary object being to furnish a made up ground plate unit ready to install, to dispense With the present practice, which necessitates the securing of the several parts and assembling them at the time and place of installation. This feature of portability is especially advantageous in localities where the materials, such as sheet copper, or charcoal, or coke, are either unobtainable or secured with great ditliculty. Additional contact surface may be supplied by adding as many of these complete ground plate units as may be required. lVith such a construction, the ground plate unitsrnay be made uplin a quantity and distributedto the places where they are to be used, thus eeonomizing in production as well as climinating chance of improper arrangement, that exists when the various elements are received separately, and assembled during the process ot installation. These units being sullieienllj,rv substantially constructed to bear the strains duc to handling, are, of course, not liable to have their parts misplaced when installed in the ground, thus giving assurance of perfect viforking condition.

lt will he understood from the above that my invention is' capable of considerable Asaid inner plate and said conductor.

2. In a ground plate, an inner plate forining a diaphragm, a conductor connected thereto, a shell surrounding said inner plate, and a conducting material covering said inner plate and confined thereto by said shell.

3. In a ground plate, an inner plate forining a diaphragm, a conductor connected thereto, a pervious shell surrounding said Vinner plate, and a conducting material covering said inner plate and confined thereto by said shell.

4,'In a ground plate, an inner plate, a conductor connected thereto, flanges on said inner late, a shell attached to said flanges Where y said inner plate forms a diainetrically extending diaphragm, and a conducting material covering said inner plate 'and conlined thereto by said shell.

5. In a ground plate, an inner plate forming a diaphragm, a' conductor connected thereto, a shell surrounding said inner plate, caps'on said shell, one of said caps being provided With an opening through which said conductor passes, and a conducting medium covering said inner plate and confined thereto by said shell and said caps.

6. In a ground plate, an inner plate, a conductor connected thereto, a flange on said inner plate, a shell composed of `a sheet having its ends overlapping and riveted to said flange, and a conducting rnaterial coverinur said inner plate and confined thereto by sai shell.

7. In a ground plate, a rectangular inner plate, a conductor extending diagonally thereof and connected thereto, 'flanges on said inner plate, a sheet,surrounding said inner plate and attached thereto whereby a cylindrical shell is formed, and a conducting medium covering said inner plate and confined thereto by said shell.

S. In a ground plate, a perforated inner plate forming a permeable diaphragm, conductor connected thereto, a pcrvions vshell surrounding said inner plate, and an absorbent conducting material covering said inner plate and confined thereto by said shell. 'l

9. In a ground plate, a rectangular inner plate, a conductor extending diagonally thereof and connected thereto,- flanges on said inner plate, a cylindrical shell composed of a sheet having its ends overlapping and Tiveted to one of said ,flanges :md having its opposilcy dsposml part riveted to the other of Said {lange-s, cai-ps on the ends @fsa-id cylindrical shell, and im absorbent conducting ,material bovmlng said inner plate and 00uin'ed therein by said shell and said caps, smid 11mm: plate :md` sind shell bemg perforated; i

substantialy as and for the purnos'es sueciflied.

BUDD J. JONES.

Witnesses: I

JAMES RAMSEY, STELLA RUTZ. 

